Morning came quicker than Hilary would have liked. She was woken by a familiar voice whispering in her ear

"Wake up"

Hilary sat up, pulling her hands over her face. Drawing the sleepy look from it

"Well come on and get breakfast" he grinned. As he walked away he added "And hurry or else Bombur will devour your meal"

Hilary folded the mat up and buckled into Nori's backpack. She shuffled over and joined the dwarves who were sitting around the extinguished fire shovelling their eggs into them. They did not talk while they were eating, the only sound that was heard was the grinding of their teeth and the occasional coughs when someone was choking on their food for eating too quickly (It's was usually Bombur). Bombur rose from the rock and waddled over to the pan and grinned hungrily when he saw that there two eggs left in the pan.

"Bombur" Thorin growled from his stone. The tone he used caused Bombur to frown and turn towards the dwarf king

"Yes Thorin"

"Leave the eggs for the human" Thorin said. Hilary looked up in surprise from her plate (which already consisted of two eggs)

"Thanks... but I think I have enough" she said slowly before looking up at Bombur with a kind smile "Bombur if you want them take them" Bombur's eyes lit up, looking to the king for confirmation.

"Bombur you do not need another helping, think of your pony; any more weight and the creature's back will be sure to break" this comment from Thorin earned a few snickers from the other dwarves "She is too skinny and must keep her energy up" Hilary looked up slightly offended

"You don't have to speak to me in third person I'm right here and I am n"

"I will not take no for an answer" interrupted Thorin who picked up the pan and scrapped the eggs onto her plate. She was about to argue back when she heard a cough beside her, it was Balin. He shook his head implying that it was a bad idea and just deal with it. Hilary sighed in defeat and ate her breakfast. She couldn't finish it though so she quickly (while Thorin wasn't looking) handed the spare egg over to Bombur who thanked her repeatedly.

When they were finished they packed away their belongings. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Kili smiling at her "So will you be accompanying me today?" Hilary smiled, she enjoyed riding with Kili, he was fun to talk to but she glanced over at Gandalf who was strapping his rug sack onto his horse. She needed to ask him questions but she never could find anytime to ask them.

"Actually Kili I am going to ride with Gandalf today, I feel bad for your poor pony who had to carry us both for long miles yesterday" Kili looked down in disappointment

"Understood, Daisy is strong though if you want to change your mind" he grinned

"Right" Hilary grinned before walking over to Gandalf "I'm riding with you today"

Gandalf looked at her amused "Is that a question?"

"I'm riding with you weather you like it or not, you have answers to my questions"

Gandalf looked down at her, his eyes were serious now "I see, I have no objection with you accompanying me today but I will not be able to answer every question that needs answering. I may only give you Yes or No answers for now"

"Fine, better than nothing" she said before mounting his giant brown horse. Gandalf climbed on after her

"I see that young master Kili will be missing your company"

"He'll live"

Thorin trotted to the top of the line. He was searching the camp for any signs of their stay "We move on"

The company moved forward in a straight line. Hilary was silent for a few moments thinking of the questions she could ask. There were so many she didn't know where to start; also what made it difficult was that he was only going to provide her with Yes/No answers. When they got down the rocky mountain path and onto a forest lane the dwarves cheered happily and started to sing

"Down the lane we will go

On an adventure to reclaim our home

Through the forests, over streams

To find the land of our dreams"

Hilary was amazed by how synchronized they all were. She then thought it would be a good time to ask Gandalf the questions while the dwarves were busy singing.

"You brought me here?" she started

"Yes" he answered immediately

"If I break the necklace, I will die?"

"Yes"

"Am I here for a reason?"

"Yes"

"Will I ever find out this reason?"

"Yes"

"The story of the Pale Orc, it made you upset?"

He sighed "Yes"

"Did you know Thorin's Grandfather well?"

"No"

"His Father?"

"No"

Hilary thought for a moment, she ran out of questions. She thought he was upset because he was friends with Thorin's elders.

"Did the Pale Orc… kill someone you loved?"

There was a long pause, she immediately felt guilty for asking.

"Yes" he finally said

"I'm sorry, I won't ask anymore questions. I didn't mean to bring back memories" she said quietly

"My dear child it is alright to be curious and as I said earlier that I would answer your questions. There is no harm done" Gandalf reassured her. He turned his head and she saw a curve on his lips "If you have anymore questions feel free to ask"

"I'm alright, you said that I would find out the answers soon and I trust you, if you say it's better that I find out later than it is better. Even though it is annoying"

He chucked at her "You are special, that I can tell you"

She scoffed "Well I already knew that"

After a few hours of riding Thorin ordered them to let the horses rest for a hour. They rested over by a small stream. Poor Gandalf's horse was ready to collapse from the weight of the Wizard and Hilary. The horse stood in the cold water gulping the cool water down like it had been lost in the desert for months.

"I don't think I should ride with you anymore Gandalf, I feel bad for your horse" Hilary said walking over to the side of the stream and started to pet the nape of his horse.

"You can ride with me Miss Hilary" Ori quietly said looking up from his drawing. The dwarves all turned to look at him in surprise that he would offer himself to her which caused him to look down; too embarrassed to show his red face

"I don't think any of you have to worry about taking turns with her anymore, I see a horse in the field over there" Gandalf said pointing to the field next to them.

"That's a wild horse Gandalf, she would be bucked off for sure" Bofur said picking his teeth from the blueberries he snagged from a nearby bush.

"The charm of a woman is very powerful as you all know" Gandalf said patting her on the head "See if you can get the horse"

Hilary's eyes opened in terror "Wha—No no no you can not make me do this"

Gandalf held up his hand "If you want to find answers, start with the horse" The dwarves looked at him with confusion. She opened her mouth to speak but she did say earlier that she trusted him she couldn't go back on what she said. She turned to walk in the fields direction muttering to herself

"This is not going to go well" She walked over to the fence of the field and jumped over it

"What answer can a horse give that a wizard can't?" She thought to herself.

"Hilary! Come back it is far too dangerous" Thorin called after her. It was odd to hear him call her by her name it was normally human or girl. So she had to be in a life threatening crises to get him to say her name, that doesn't seem right.

The white horse stood only meters away. It was munching on the grass so it didn't notice her presence.

"Er, here horsey" she clicked her tongue alerting the horse of her presence. The horse's eyes shot open and turned to face her. She stumbled back a few steps as it went on its back legs; kicking his front legs in defense In the distance she could hear the arguing of the dwarves of whether they should help her or not. Gandalf was scolding Kili who tried to barge past them to enter the field and run to her rescue.

She looked up and gave the horse a pleading look. He seemed to calm a little. Hilary stood up straight and while to horse was calming down she took this as an opportunity to hold her hands up without frightening the creature. She risked reaching her hand to touch his nose. He stopped fidgeting and automatically bumped his nose into her hand allowing her to stroke him.

"It's okay, I'm not going to harm you" she cooed to the horse keeping eye contact with him. She looked deep into his eyes.

The dwarves behind her were hushing each other looking at the scene with interest

"I have never seen a wild horse be tamed" was the main topic.

"Can I ride you?"

In response the horse knelt down and waited for her to climb onto his back. She smiled and gently threw her leg over the side of the horse. She never rode a horse on her own before but it somehow felt natural to her. She brushed his white mane which was bright and shiny not like the ones the dwarves have who were dirty and smelly from sleeping in the muck. This horse belonged to someone, she hoped they wouldn't mind her borrowing him for a while. The horse stood up and trotted over to the dwarves who were staring at her in awe.

"My Lady, I did not know you could ride and ho-how did you manage to tame a wild creature so fast" Dwalin asked in amazement. These were the first words the dwarf ever spoke to her.

"I honestly don't know" she spotted Gandalf smiling at her proudly as to which she grinned back